Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the Minister's offer to seek advice from the Attorney General. On the basis of what he said, that is logical. However, one can understand the concern. Irish, British or citizens of many other European states and so forth can be checked by the Garda, but there is a fear that there might be a vacuum in security otherwise. The Minister has pointed out that this could discriminate against an applicant and, in most cases, it probably would. However, that fear is about the one or two exceptional cases where the state from which they come happens to be unco-operative or inefficient in its response times. That is a challenge.